The Dominion War 1 - Betazed's Fall
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Part 1 of a collection of stories of the Dominion War. The fall of her homeworld hits Deanna Troi.
1. Chapter 1

The start of a new series detailing the Dominion War. Enjoy!

Remember, I don't own Star Trek in any form. Let me know what you think, please.

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The Dominion War.

Betazed's Fall.

"I wonder what this meeting's about," Deanna Troi was saying to Beverly Crusher as they walked into the observation lounge.

The doctor's usually smiling expression was missing as the stresses of the war were getting to her. War was always the worst for doctors.

"Probably about the war," Beverly replied darkly, not even trying to think there might be any other reason behind Captain Picard summoning the senior staff to the observation lounge for an important meeting.

Deanna nodded, although she was trying not to think too much about the war which was going on with the Dominion. The last two years had been nothing but one fight after another, with the war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire which had been started when Starfleet had discovered the Klingons believed the Dominion was covertly helping the Cardassian, and the Borg attack on Earth which had resulted in a terrifying mess where the Borg had tried to assimilate Earth just on the eve of First Contact.

The Dominion.

For the last three years, the Dominion had been nothing more than a bogeyman lurking on the other side of the galaxy, with the only way of reaching them was through the stable wormhole discovered near Bajor five years before, the only stable wormhole known to exist. Led by a race of shapeshifters who had been persecuted because of their abilities, the Dominion was a powerful interstellar empire in the Gamma Quadrant who followed their master's desire to impose order on a chaotic universe through either diplomacy or conflict, and they didn't care about how many died.

With their genetically engineered foot soldiers, the Jem'Hadar, the Dominion was a force which had quickly become feared. They had already destroyed several Starfleet ships assigned to explore the Gamma Quadrant, slaughtered the Bajoran colonists of New Bajor, and they had shown how far they were willing to go many times.

For a year or so, the fear of the Dominion had ignited little wars, and it had undermined the Federation-Klingon alliance which had been standing for years.

But now they were at war. Many in Starfleet blamed Captain Benjamin Sisko for starting it off, but there were many others who had seen the Dominion and their Cardassian allies who had joined the Dominion in order to regain their strength and kick out their Klingon invaders once and for all and perhaps gain new territories which were in keeping with typical Cardassian tactics.

Personally, Deanna wasn't surprised there was a war on since the Dominion had sent convoy after convoy of ships to Cardassia, and they had been building up their forces ever since. And given how hostile the Dominion was to the Federation, it had been inevitable the Founders would have wanted a war.

Deanna was not a soldier even though she was a trained and experienced Starfleet officer and like everyone else who served in Starfleet, she was prepared to fight if she needed to although it wasn't what she and many others had signed up for.

She took a look at Beverly, noticing the lines of strain around the doctor's eyes. _Enterprise _had been attacked many times by Jem'Hadar, and although the Sovereign-class ship was better equipped for combat than the old Galaxy-class, several of the crew had been killed or critically injured, which had certainly shaped the minds and attitudes of the crew.

It didn't help Starfleet had adopted an engage-retreat-engage-retreat mindset, although that had been lessened somewhat since Deep Space Nine and control of the wormhole was retaken. Everyone in Starfleet knew it was because many in the fleet were reeling from the fact they had been thrust into a war, but the attitude had existed since the recent Federation-Klingon war although the Borg attack had been taken more seriously. Unfortunately, Starfleet and the Federation had never been in a true war for years, and as a result, the mindset to fight and wage a full-scale war was hard to come by.

Deanna and Beverly stepped into the lounge. They found Will Riker, Geordi La Forge, and Data already there.

"Any idea what this is about?" Beverly asked as she took a seat.

Will shook his head. "No, but the Captain received a priority one distress call from Starfleet. Shortly after that, he called this meeting," he said.

Daniels, the new tactical officer walked in, his expression was grim. Deanna could feel his emotions churning and it took all of her training and experience not to react.

"What's wrong?" Geordi asked him, his eerie blue optical lenses taking in the security officer's mood.

"I received a letter in the last communique. My sister on the _Cairo _is missing," he said. "Apparently she was lost several days ago, and it is only now we're in communications range we were able to get the message of the casualty list."

Everyone at the table looked grimly at each other. For some reason, Starfleet had been sending them on deep-space assignments and they had been kept out of the loop for some time. It was very frustrating, especially since they rarely dealt with the Dominion although when they did have the chance, the battles were fierce and costly.

"I'm sorry," Riker apologised.

Daniels nodded, but any further discussion was stopped when the doors opened and Captain Picard walked in. The moment everyone saw him they saw whatever was on his mind, whatever he had just heard, it was bad.

Picard walked to the table and looked gravely at everyone. "I have received disturbing news. The Dominion have invaded Betazed."

Deanna gasped in horror. "What?" she whispered aghast while everyone looked at her in shock and horrified sympathy as Betazed was their Counsellor's home planet.

Picard nodded, and he walked over to the observation room monitor and he tapped in a code. A diagram of the battle appeared on the monitor. Riker studied it closely.

"They came from the Kalandra sector," he observed while he tried to suppress the emotions he was feeling since he and Deanna had had great memories of Betazed.

"They did," Picard's voice was low and tight and everyone didn't need to be empathic to know how angry and disturbed their captain was by this latest turn of events in the war.

"How….," everyone turned to Deanna, and for the first time they had ever known her they were shocked to see the look of utter loss on her face, "how did Starfleet Intelligence not find out about this?"

Picard sighed. "They considered Kalandra, but they felt it was too far from the Dominion's major supply lines to be a threat. There is a lot of blame to go around; before the war even began and the Jem'Hadar were sending in their ships through the wormhole, Starfleet Intelligence sent Starfleet Command possible strategies for the defence of the major members of the Federation, and when the war began the Tenth Fleet was assigned to protect Betazed."

"They didn't do a good job," Deanna commented.

"They weren't there."

"What do you mean, they weren't there?" Geordi spoke for the first time, looking at Picard with confusion.

"The Tenth Fleet," Picard shook his head at the insanity at it, "were caught out of position on a training exercise. But when the Dominion attacked Betazed itself, the planetary defence system around Betazed was obsolete and the Dominion took the planet within ten hours."

Data was studying the map. "The Dominion's takeover of Betazed has put them in the strategic position to launch invasions into the heart of the Federation," he pointed out in his clipped voice although with the emotion chip switched on everyone could hear the concern and the worry in the androids' voice, "They can strike out at Andoria, Tellar, Alpha Centauri, and Vulcan."

Picard nodded. "Starfleet is already mobilising to fortify those planets, and the admiral who spoke to me was vague about the details of what was going to come out of it."

"Just like they've been vague about everything else about the war," Daniels remarked. "Ever since the war started, there have been dozens of poorly thought out plans."

"He's right," Geordi said his expression set. "We've known about the Dominion for years, and yet there hasn't really been any headway; the production of more advanced and battle-capable ships. Yeah, we've got some, but it's still not good enough."

"Starfleet was caught by surprise when the Borg invaded and the Battle of Wolf 359 occurred; they'd known for a year of their existence, but everyone was surprised when the Borg invaded not long after. When they did, all of our tactical experience and knowledge was thrown out of the window," Picard said grimly, his eyes hard as he remembered what happened to himself during the Battle. "When the Borg Cube was destroyed, Starfleet embarked on work to create a battle fleet so it wouldn't happen again, and new designs were tested for new starships, including the Sovereign-class. But the Borg threat became less urgent, so Starfleet continued as before on other matters."

"Are there any plans for retaking Betazed?" Beverly whispered.

Picard shook his head. "No," he replied. "Starfleet is trying to come up with new strategies for dealing with the Dominion-."

"No, they're not, Captain," Deanna interrupted, her eyes fierce with anger and heartbreak at the thought of whatever the Dominion was doing to her world. "Since the Dominion was first encountered and their intentions were made known, Starfleet have done very little but the barest minimum to prepare. But now they're faced with a major interstellar war, now Starfleet is mobilising."

"That's enough, Counsellor," Picard interrupted, putting stress on Deanna's title to make her see she was crossing the line although everyone around the table saw he actually agreed with everything she had just said.


	2. Chapter 2

The Dominion War.

His duty shift over, Will Riker was heading for Deanna's quarters. He needed to talk with her about what had happened in the observation lounge; he wasn't going to tell her she had been out of line since she was smart enough to see she had come close to crossing the line, but he just wanted to talk with her. Deanna had done the same thing for him many times over the years they'd served on this _Enterprise _and the old_ Enterprise-_D, it was now time for him to return the favour.

As he passed the crewmembers in the corridors, he overheard some of their conversations. The news of the Dominion invasion of Betazed had spread throughout the ship after Captain Picard had announced it and released information about what had happened. There were several Betazoids on the ship, and the news had naturally horrified them since their world had been taken over by a hostile force, and Riker knew what the effects of the war were having on the rest of the Federation.

When he arrived at Deanna's quarters, Riker hoped she let him in; it was possible she would say he should leave and let her accept what had happened to her planet, her people, her mother, on her own. But he was hopeful she would let him inside.

He pressed the door chime and he heard her reply over the intercom.

Relieved although he had to ask if she was only doing it to be polite, Riker stepped into the cabin.

Deanna was sitting on her couch with a large holo-album in her hands. Her usually beautiful face which was always so pleasant and friendly looked grave and upset about what she had learnt.

"Deanna?" he said softly, wondering if she even knew he was there.

"Will, do you ever think about Ro Laren?" Deanna's voice was a whisper.

Will was surprised when he heard the name of the Bajoran officer who had defected to the Maquis during an important assignment, especially since he tried not to think about her, although their relationship had turned since then. The name stung because he and Ro had always had a tempestuous relationship. Will had been furious when he had learnt the Bajoran who had disobeyed orders during a disastrous away mission, resulting in the deaths of eight other people. She had been court-martialled and imprisoned, but she had been released as part of a plan to locate a Bajoran terrorist, and since she knew the area, she was the logical choice to come.

Ro had come a long way since then…only to betray them all to join the Maquis. Riker had been sitting there next to her when she pointed a phaser straight at him, and he had been the one to tell Captain Picard what had happened.

The worst thing was Riker had steadily learnt to trust the Bajoran woman. Yes, they'd had arguments but there had been moments where she had fascinated him since she seemed to enjoy the fights.

"Sometimes," he finally said in a neutral voice, although at this point he didn't know, no-one knew, since the Maquis were being exterminated by the Cardassians and their Jem'Hadar friends. "Why?"

"I've been thinking about her more and more since this whole mess started," Deanna confessed with a sigh. "When she first came onboard, Beverly and I tried to be nice to her, but she turned us away. She preferred being on her own. But later on…we began being more friendly, especially after that mess with the Quantum filament, and when our memories were wiped out."

Will flinched at the memories of the ship being rendered powerless. He had gained a tremendous respect for Data then for being able to handle the ship with just his head unit.

"Ro and I argued during that mess with the filament, but I held firm with my decisions. I think I won her respect," Deanna went on with a smile before her expression became grimmer. "When Bajor was finally liberated, I went to her when I felt strong emotions. She told me straight up while she was happy her world had been liberated, she was scared of what she'd find.

"Will, Ro told me stories of what the Cardassians did to Bajor," Deanna went on, her eyes filling with tears. "The Cardassians didn't just enslave, brutalise, and torture their victims; they would rape mothers, sisters, daughters, and make the rest of the family watch in horror. They even sent doctors and scientists to Bajor to experiment on the Bajorans, infecting them with terrible illnesses."

Riker had heard these stories himself. Ro Laren wasn't the only Bajoran to serve with him, there had been others and their stories of what the Cardassians had done to them had been shocking. The Bajorans he had known hadn't been the only ones to come back with horror stories of what the Cardassians were capable of doing and were more than willing to do. Miles O'Brien had served on the Cardassian front, and he had witnessed their atrocities, and Riker had heard of dozens of different accounts of what the Cardassians did to their prisoners. Even Captain Picard, who had been captured by Cardassians during a mission to see if the Cardassians had been developing metagenic weapons, probably still had nightmares of what the Cardassian captors had done to him. Hell, O'Brien had even been _kidnapped _as part of a Cardassian covert operation, and Riker could only imagine the type of pain he'd been put through.

It was acts like that and stories of what the Cardassians had done during their Occupation of Bajor where they had systematically strip-mined the planet, reducing the Bajorans who were a very old race, and had been teaching dozens of cultures art and philosophy when humans hadn't yet reached the 20th century to a handful of refugees, unfortunately, it was up to debate whether or not they were better off since there weren't any Cardassians around to enslave them, but life was rough for them.

But on Bajor…

Executions at random. Genocide. Biological experiments. Rapes. Tortures….

The lists of atrocities went on and on.

Riker had seen the level of destruction on Bajor, he had led the relief efforts before the wormhole had been discovered, and while the Cardassians had left the essence of Bajoran culture alone, the cities had been devastated, but what was nothing compared to the damage the Cardassians had caused to the planet. They had poisoned the water and the atmosphere over decades, making it harder for the Federation relief efforts.

When you took a walk around one of Bajor's cities, look at the devastated landscape which had once been lush and beautiful before the Cardassians in their greed had torn it all apart, it made you think about the mindset behind the Federation Council who believed in the treaty with the Cardassians, and their desire to bring both the Bajorans and the Cardassians together on the Federation council.

It was as though they wanted to change history, and make both races believe the Occupation had never happened. Only it couldn't be, not now….

He knew where Deanna was going with this. She was frightened the Cardassians were doing the same thing to the Betazoids.

He walked over to Deanna and wrapped her in his arms. "Deanna, it might not happen-," he tried to reassure her, but she pulled away, glaring at him.

"How would you know that?" she snapped with uncharacteristic rage. "The Cardassians could be taking my people, forcing them to mine beneath Betazed's surface for minerals, just like they did with Bajor. The _Dominion _might be trying to find a way of using my people's telepathy to use as a _weapon! _And it's all Starfleet's fault!"

"Now hang on, don't go too far!" Riker protested, although he had no idea why he was defending Starfleet when all their organisation had done was making so many foolish and short-sighted mistakes ever since the time the Borg threat was called off and everyone stopped being so afraid of the dark.

"Don't tell me what to do! If Starfleet had bothered to take the Dominion more seriously when they were first formally encountered, if _Captain Sisko _had been listened to, instead of all of those admirals sitting behind their cosy desks, saying that if they just avoided the Dominion the threat would go away, but it never did, did it Will?"

Riker had to concede Deanna had a point. The destruction of the _USS Odyssey _had sent terrible shockwaves through the Federation in the face of the new threat from the Dominion. But some elements in Starfleet took the threat seriously when that bomb had exploded a year ago, and when the Founders had tried to start a war with the Tzenkethi and another had lured the Tal Shiar and the Obsidian Order into a trap, before another had taken on General Martok's form and persuaded that idiot Gowron into going to war with the entire Alpha Quadrant.

Starfleet had known about the Dominion threat for a good few years now, but while they had managed to come a long way into shoring their defences up, they were still making mistakes. Will knew Deanna had a right to be angry, knew Starfleet had made a big error in judgement by assuming the Dominion wouldn't bother invading Betazed since it was too far from something as mundane as supply lines, but that did not mean she had to lose her temper.

"No, you're right," he said softly, deciding to use some of Deanna's own psychology against her. "We shouldn't have stuck our heads collectively in the ground like a load of ostriches. But you can't the admirals, or the Federation Council for the mistakes of a few who had gotten used to peace."

Deanna snorted. "I hate it when you use my reverse psychology on me."

Will grinned.


End file.
